Significant Oral Arguments of the Supreme Court 1955-1993
The Warren Court | The Burger Court | The Rehnquist Court
In 1996, the Supreme Court Historical Society appointed an Ad Hoc Committee of distinguished legal scholars and Supreme Court practitioners to determine the most significant oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court from 1955 until 1993. The Committee was asked to pick not only important cases, but also examples of effective appellate advocacy. Ultimately the Committee selected 411 cases; 130 from the Warren Court era, 160 from the Burger Court Era and 121 from the first seven years of the Rehnquist Court.
The Warren Court
351 U.S. 12 (1955) Griffin v. Illinois
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351 U.S. 115 (1956) Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board
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351 U.S. 487 (1956) Reid v. Covert
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350 U.S. 551 (1956) Slochower v. Board of Higher Education of New York City
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354 U.S. 476 (1957) Alberts v. California, Roth v. United States
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353 U.S. 657 (1957) Jencks v. United States
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354 U.S. 449 (1957) Mallory v. United States
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353 U.S. 230 (1957) Pennsylvania v. Board of Directors of City Trusts of Philadelphia
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354 U.S. 1 (1957) Reid v. Covert
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354 U.S. 234 (1957) Sweezy v. New Hampshire
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354 U.S. 178 (1957) Watkins v. United States
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354 U.S. 298 (1957) Yates v. United States
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358 U.S. 1 (1958) Cooper v. Aaron
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357 U.S. 116 (1958) Kent v. Dulles
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357 U.S. 449 (1958) NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson
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356 U.S. 44 (1958) Perez v. Brownell
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357 U.S. 513 (1958) Speiser v. Randall
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356 U.S. 86 (1958) Trop v. Dulles
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360 U.S. 109 (1959) Barenblatt v. United States
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360 U.S. 564 (1959) Barr v. Matteo
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359 U.S. 500 (1959) Beacon Theatres Inc. v. Westover
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360 U.S. 25 (1959) Louisiana Power & Light v. Thibodaux
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360 U.S. 240 (1959) NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson
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360 U.S. 315 (1959) Spano v. New York
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361 U.S. 39 (1959) United Steel Workers of America v. United States
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361 U.S. 516 (1960) Bates v. City of Little Rock
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364 U.S. 454 (1960) Boynton v. Virginia
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364 U.S. 500 (1960) Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board
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364 U.S. 339 (1960) Gomillion v. Lightfoot
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361 U.S. 281 (1960) McElroy v. Guagliardo
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362 U.S. 60 (1960) Talley v. California
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366 U.S. 599 (1961) Braunfeld v. Brown
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365 U.S. 715 (1961) Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority
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367 U.S. 1 (1961) Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board
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365 U.S. 265 (1961) Costello v. United States
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368 U.S. 157 (1961) Garner v. Louisiana
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368 U.S. 57 (1961) Hoyt v. Florida
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367 U.S. 643 (1961) Mapp v. Ohio
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365 U.S. 167 (1961) Monroe v. Pape
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367 U.S. 497 (1961) Poe v. Ullman
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367 U.S. 203 (1961) Scales v. United States
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365 U.S. 505 (1961) Silverman v. United States
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365 U.S. 43 (1961) Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago
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367 U.S. 488 (1961) Torcaso v. Watkins
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369 U.S. 186 (1962) Baker v. Carr
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370 U.S. 421 (1962) Engel v. Vitale
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370 U.S. 530 (1962) Glidden Co. v. Zdanok
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370 U.S. 660 (1962) Robinson v. California
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370 U.S. 460 (1962) United States v. Borden Co.
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374 U.S. 203 (1963) Abington School District v. Schempp
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372 U.S. 58 (1963) Bantam Books Inc. v. Sullivan
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372 U.S. 229 (1963) Edwards v. South Carolina
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372 U.S. 391 (1963) Fay v. Noia
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372 U.S. 335 (1963) Gideon v. Wainwright
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372 U.S. 368 (1963) Gray v. Sanders
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371 U.S. 415 (1963) NAACP v. Button
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374 U.S. 398 (1963) Sherbert v. Verner
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373 U.S. 262 (1963) Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham
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371 U.S. 471 (1963) Wong Sun v. United States
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378 U.S. 108 (1964) Aguilar v. Texas
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378 U.S. 500 (1964) Aptheker v. Secretary of State
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378 U.S. 226 (1964) Bell v. Maryland
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378 U.S. 478 (1964) Escobedo v. Illinois
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377 U.S. 218 (1964) Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
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379 U.S. 241 (1964) Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
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378 U.S. 184 (1964) Jacobellis v. Ohio
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378 U.S. 1 (1964) Malloy v. Hogan
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377 U.S. 201 (1964) Massiah v. United States
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376 U.S. 254 (1964) New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
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377 U.S. 533 (1964) Reynolds v. Sims
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377 U.S. 163 (1964) Schneider v. Rusk
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376 U.S. 1 (1964) Wesberry v. Sanders
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376 U.S. 52 (1964) Wright v. Rockefeller
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380 U.S. 479 (1965) Dombrowski v. Pfister
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381 U.S. 532 (1965) Estes v. Texas
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380 U.S. 51 (1965) Freedman v. Maryland
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381 U.S. 479 (1965) Griswold v. Connecticut
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381 U.S. 301 (1965) Lamont v. Postmaster General
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380 U.S. 163 (1965) United States v. Seeger
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381 U.S. 1 (1965) Zemel v. Rusk
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385 U.S. 39 (1966) Adderley v. Florida
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383 U.S. 413 (1966) Memoirs v. Massachusetts
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383 U.S. 131 (1966) Brown v. Louisiana
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384 U.S. 436 (1966) Miranda v. Arizona
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384 U.S. 11 (1966) Elfbrandt v. Russell
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382 U.S. 296 (1966) Evans v. Newton
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384 U.S. 780 (1966) Georgia v. Rachel
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383 U.S. 463 (1966) Ginzburg v. United States
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383 U.S. 663 (1966) Harper v. Virginia State BD. of Elections
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385 U.S. 293 (1966) Hoffa v. United States
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384 U.S. 641 (1966) Katzenbach v. Morgan
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384 U.S. 333 (1966) Sheppard v. Maxwell
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383 U.S. 301 (1966) South Carolina v. Katzenbach
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383 U.S. 745 (1966) United States v. Guest
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383 U.S. 169 (1966) United States v. Johnson
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387 U.S. 253 (1967) Afroyim v. Rusk
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388 U.S. 139 (1967) Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts
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387 U.S. 118 (1967) Boutilier v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
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387 U.S. 523 (1967) Camara v. Municipal Court
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387 U.S. 1 (1967) In re Gault
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389 U.S. 347 (1967) Katz v. United States
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388 U.S. 1 (1967) Loving v. Virginia
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387 U.S. 369 (1967) Reitman v. Mulkey
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387 U.S. 541 (1967) See v. City of Seattle
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385 U.S. 374 (1967) Time Inc. v. Hill
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388 U.S. 307 (1967) Walker v. City of Birmingham
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387 U.S. 294 (1967) Warden v. Hayden
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392 U.S. 236 (1968) Board of Education of Central School District No. 1 v. Allen
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391 U.S. 145 (1968) Duncan v. Louisiana
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393 U.S. 97 (1968) Epperson v. Arkansas
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392 U.S. 83 (1968) Flast v. Cohen
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391 U.S. 430 (1968) Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Va.
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392 U.S. 409 (1968) Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.
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392 U.S. 183 (1968) Maryland v. Wirtz
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392 U.S. 1 (1968) Terry v. Ohio
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391 U.S. 367 (1968) United States v. O'Brien
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391 U.S. 510 (1968) Witherspoon v. Illinois
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395 U.S. 444 (1969) Brandenburg v. Ohio
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394 U.S. 111 (1969) Gregory v. City of Chicago
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393 U.S. 385 (1969) Hunter v. Erickson
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395 U.S. 486 (1969) Powell v. McCormack
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395 U.S. 367 (1969) Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission
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394 U.S. 618 (1969) Shapiro v. Thompson
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394 U.S. 147 (1969) Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham
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395 U.S. 337 (1969) Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp. et al.
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394 U.S. 557 (1969) Stanley v. Georgia
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394 U.S. 576 (1969) Street v. New York
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393 U.S. 503 (1969) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
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